Recently, the Software Alliance (BSA) released its annual “Global Cloud Computing Scorecard” for 2018. It cites Germany as the country with the best environment and optimal conditions for cloud computing. The study compared a total of 24 countries and Germany took first place ahead of Japan and the USA.
Source: www.bsa.org/cloudscorecard
The indisputable advantages of Germany as an environment for cloud computing
One of the main reasons for the placing of Germany in first place for cloud computing destination are the advantages of the Federal Data Protection Act. Data protection and security in Germany achieve the highest rating in the BSA study.
BSA emphasizes that “there is a pro-active culture of assertive action in Germany and a wide range of sanctions and fines.” Germany is seen as a country that ensures data protection and sets it as the highest priority in its policy. Hence, the country attracts large companies, SMEs, and freelancers wanting to run their infrastructure or manage their customers’ infrastructure in the cloud.
The enforcement of the NIS directive in Germany is a related aspect that plays an important role in the rankings. This law introduces several changes. For example, new privacy and security breaches for cloud service providers. This makes cloud computing an important and precisely regulated area of the German economy.
The scorecard delivers a curious finding for emerging markets. Unlike Germany or Japan, emerging economies would delay the adoption of cloud-friendly legislation and therefore hamper growth. For example, government regulations for storing data on-prem logically lead to significant restrictions on service providers.
The lack of cyber protection measures in emerging markets has a negative impact. On the other hand, Germany is the only country to implement a strategy for cyber security that contains specific objectives and improvement measures. Germany is also a “Certificate Authorizing Member” of the Common Criteria Recognition Agreement (CCRA). The CCRA is a standard certification requirement in Germany.
Another key aspect of Germany is that the country is making good progress on extending broadband access to the population. Its current target is to ensure that all households have access to broadband with speeds of at least 50 Mbps by the end of 2018.
Conclusion
Data protection regulations and the efficient legal system have always been well-known as major advantages for Germany as a reliable destination for cloud computing. However, in this year’s scorecard, the list of advantages doesn’t end here. Plus points like a commitment to international standards and interoperability, modern electronic commerce and electronic signature laws as well as strong copyright laws contribute to the top scorecard for Germany and make it the best country for cloud computing worldwide.
Sources
The complete study of the 24 countries and detailed results can be found on BSA’s website. The results for Germany can be found in this PDF document.
Check out CloudSigma’s public cloud offering out of the DARZ datacentre near Frankfurt, Germany.
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